Wusik has announced a new product: Wusik Fuse Box, a "Multi VSTi Manager / Chainer". It is currently available for pre-ordering for $49.95 and a beta version is expected in the next month or so. This new product will also be included with all Wusik Station V6 orders (Wusik Station V6 is due out Q1 2010).
The idea behind Wusik Fuse Box, is to be able to work with multiple instances of any VSTi in the same location. This tool adds the option to have multiple Wusik Station and Wusik EVE instances, which can be played with one keyboard. You can also divide VST instruments by Key-Zone, Velocity-Zone or MIDI-Channels.
Wusik Fuse Box is based on the same idea of Wusik VM, but with the ability to work with multiple VSTs, a new interface, Tree-View of your computer files and an Effect-Rack with Sends and Inserts. With time, the product may grow with its own Sequencer option, making this an alternative to your current Sequencer.
Current Feature List:
- Up to 16 VSTi slots. Each slot shows the VSTi name and the loaded preset. Slots are divided into a 2 x 8 VSTi page.
- Tree-View which can be used to browse for VSTis, FXP, FXB, SFZ, WAV, WusikSND, DASHsnd and WusikPRST files. Read more below*.
- Tree View Favorites Locations. Let you select a directory and save to a Favorites list. Making it easier to locate files in your computer.
- Each VSTi slot has the following options: Mute, Volume, Pad, FX1/FX2/FX3/FX4 Sends, FX Inserts (x 4), Key-Zone, Velocity-Zone, MIDI-Channel, Output and Open VST Editor (GUI - Opens in a new Window).
- Mixer Page, where you can adjust most of the parameters listed above.
- 8 Parameter Macros: each plug-in can have its own selection of parameters at the bottom of the screen. Making it easier to adjust Envelope and Filter settings, or anything you want, as it's user-defined. e.g. for Wusik Station, you assign the ADSR to the first 4 parameters. So when you load a preset, you can see what the ADSR values are and change right on the screen, without having to open the VST Editor (GUI). Plus, you can also automate the Parameter Macros via MIDI or with your Sequencer Automation options.
- Everything is saved with your project file, or can also be saved as a Wusik Fuse Box .WusikFBox file. When loading a .WusikFBox file from the Tree-View, all settings and loaded VSTs will be restored.
- Multiple Outputs. Two files are provided, Single Stereo Out or Multi 8 Stereo Outputs.
- MIDI-VSTs. Each Slot can load up to 4 MIDI-VST plug-ins.
- Over-Sampling option for each VST plug-in (just like Wusik VM does now). Over-Sampling helps some VST plug-ins produce a better sound, removing aliasing problems, but consumes extra CPU usage. This is handy when streaming the final project to disk (rendering all tracks).
- FXP and FXB extracting from VST plug-ins. An FXP is a single preset file, while FXB is a bank of presets file. Not every VST plug-in allows you to extract preset/bank files.
- VST plug-in registering. So when you load a FXP/FXB file, Wusik Fuse Box knows which VST to load.
- Copy protection method: Serial-Number (nothing else).
* Tree-View: when browsing files, if you load a FXP or FXB file, the ID inside of this file tells WFB which plug-in to load. If the plug-in is not registered, the user is asked to find the related plug-in, and it's registered for future usage; so the next time you load the same or another file with the same VST ID, it knows which plug-in to load. When loading a SFZ, WAV, WusikSND or DASHsnd file, it loads Wusik Station with the SFZ assigned to the first layer. This is handy when browsing your sample collection; more file options can be added later on. When loading a WusikPRST file, Wusik Station is loaded and the selected preset is used. Another handy feature when browsing tons of presets and sounds. There would no longer be a need to convert WusikPRST to FXP files, something Wusik VM currently requires. More plug-in special preset formats can be added, with the help of the original VST author.
